Public Accounts Committee: Legal Aid

4 February 2015

Chairman of the Bar, Alistair MacDonald QC, has supported calls
made by the Government spending watchdog to make sure that people
who are no longer eligible for civil legal aid can still get access
to justice.

Commenting on the Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) report,
'Implementing Reforms to Civil Legal Aid' he said:

"This report shows that cuts to civil legal aid came in too hard
and too fast. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of
Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) removed legal aid from hundreds of
thousands of people who need it in one fell swoop but no effective
plans were put in place to make sure it went to those who needed it
most.

"The exceptional case funding scheme, in particular, is a real
mess. This was designed to help between 5,000 and 7,000 people
taken out of eligibility for legal aid, but of 1,520 applications
only 69 have been funded. The forms are so complicated that most
people need a lawyer to help fill them in, but they can't get one
without legal aid. It is an absurd catch 22.

"We have already written to the Justice Select Committee
recommending that LASPO be amended to provide exceptional case
funding where it is in the interests of justice to do so."

"Overall, the report reflects the Bar Council's concerns
that the scale of the cuts made to legal aid, and the way they were
introduced, abandoned the most vulnerable, created disorder in our
courts, and damaged our legal advice services."

The report confirms that many of the fears raised by the Bar
Council's research, 'LASPO: One Year On', continue to be realised,
including:

The exceptional funding mechanism is not, and never has been, in
any way effective

An increase in Litigants in Person (LIPs) who are often unable
to represent themselves effectively, and who create delays and
extra costs to the courts

The effect of cuts to the supply of early legal advice means
problems escalate and create knock-on costs in terms of health and
other public services, as well as to the individual, and

Use of mediation has collapsed despite expectations that it
would increase.

The Bar Council supports many of the recommendations of the PAC
report, including that the Ministry should:

Closely monitor the take-up of mediation and take action if it
does not increase as had been originally envisaged

Establish a mechanism to ensure that those who remain eligible
for legal aid know their entitlement

Simplify the exceptional case funding scheme so those without
legal knowledge understand how to apply for it